Three-Time Super Bowl Champion and Five-Time NFL Executive of the Year, Scott Pioli Shares His Champion-Winning Insights with GoTo Teammates
No matter where we play – from conference rooms and offices to the playing field and pitch – there are tremendous parallels between sport and business. Recently, GoTo teammates across the globe had the exciting opportunity to learn from a renowned sports figure who has mastered the art of building high-performance teams and winning at the highest level: The Super Bowl.
With a 30+ year career in the National Football League (NFL) with teams such as the New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, and Atlanta Falcons, Scott Pioli knows what it takes to be a leader, to harness a winning mentality, and to be a great teammate. Beyond his impact on the playing field, Scott is a passionate advocate for DEI, supporting minority coaching candidates, scouts, and executives outside of the sports industry.
Scott gave GoTo employees a front row seat to share his insights on developing talent and the intangibles (such as intelligence, character, empathy, motivation, and versality) that are so crucial in our professional and personal growth – and are the foundation at GoTo.
Lesson 1: Embrace every moment as a learning opportunity
No matter where you are in your career journey, there is always an opportunity to learn – especially in those early stages of your career. During this time, you can observe leaders in action and reflect on your feelings about different leadership styles as you take on various roles.
Scott is firm believer that your contribution to an organization and being an effective leader comes from holding different positions. There is no such thing as too big or too small of a job. You can always find a way to make a positive impact within an organization.
Through different roles – big and small – you figure out time and energy management, learn how to work with others, who you depend on to perform your job function – and most importantly, you learn how to become dependable yourself. It also gives you the opportunity to figure out what you like and don’t like doing, as well as your own strength and limitations.
“The greatest time of learning can happen while you're in those roles that are perceived to be lesser than,” says Scott. As you rise in your career and begin leading others, you’ll appreciate having held those different roles because you’ll better understand your team’s duties, share their experiences, and understand their emotions.
Lesson 2: Championship teams are built on intangibles
Everyone brings a different skillset to perform their specific job duties. Outside of those skills, there are these intangibles. Intangibles are those qualities, such as topic-related intelligence, character, empathy, motivation, instincts, preparation, and versatility, that truly make you stand out as a valuable employee and teammate.
For Scott, the importance of intangibles started at a young age, and it happened through sports. Early in his athletic career, he quickly learned that there were players who had more skills and better tools than he had, such speed, size, and strength. While Scott continued to improve on his skills, he realized he played faster than players that had more pure speed than him. What made Scott stand out as a successful teammate was his ability to “play the game” faster by relying on the intangibles of preparation and in-game football intelligence.
Scott’s football intelligence came from studying the game and skill in seeing different angles on the field and in his competition. Scott recalls a close friend telling him, “Don’t ever get intelligence confused with the ability to make good decisions.” Incredibly smart people can make bad decisions under pressure and when dynamics change. What sets someone apart – or in Scott’s case, play faster – is that intelligence and skill to make sound decision under pressure. Throughout Scott’s career, he’s seen the power of intangibles in the teams he’s been a part of and managed.
This also holds true for building successful teams within companies. While an employee may have all the skills necessary to perform their job duties, it’s the strategic thinking (anticipating what’s coming next, how to step up and rally the teams, etc.) and those intangibles that lead to success. When employees think beyond just their everyday work, they will grow, be better contributors and be more valuable as professionals, as well as to an organization.
Always remember, intangibles can quickly become tangible.
Lesson 3: Leave a Legacy
We all want to leave a legacy. Oftentimes, we’re only thinking about legacy in terms of family, but there’s also an opportunity to a leave a professional legacy. For Scott, it’s always been important that he leave things better than when he arrived. “You’re never too young to start legacy work,” says Scott.
Legacy work means mentorship. “It means being given an assignment and not just doing the assignment but making the assignment better or finding a new process or method or path to make the product better,” explains Scott.
In our lives, we’re all given certain things. The legacy mindset is about understanding that you’re fortunate for every opportunity that you have, so always give back more than what is required. By doing this and instilling that mindset in those around you, it’s the most powerful thing you can do.
